


An Escape from Her Thesis

by starrnobella



Series: Starr-Crossed Adventures [45]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Almost Kiss, Cast The Dice, Crossover, F/M, Facebook: Hermione's Haven, Facebook: Marvelously Magical Fanfiction, First Dates, Graduate School, Hermione's Haven Bingo 2020, Heroes, Marvelously Magical Fanfiction's Roll-A-Drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:42:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25296364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrnobella/pseuds/starrnobella
Summary: Grad school took up all of Hermione Granger's precious free time. If she wasn't in the library, she was at home sitting behind her computer typing away at her thesis. One night she decided that she had earned a break and agreed to a date with a gentleman she met by happenstance getting coffee one afternoon. That break may have been the best decision she ahd ever made.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Hermione Granger
Series: Starr-Crossed Adventures [45]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/972084
Comments: 12
Kudos: 27
Collections: Cast the Dice 2020, Hermione's Haven Bingo 2020, Marvelously Magical Drabbles





	An Escape from Her Thesis

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JenniseiBlack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenniseiBlack/gifts), [GaeilgeRua](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaeilgeRua/gifts).



> A/N: This was written for Hermione's Haven during #HHBingo20 and for the June Roll A Drabble in Marvelously Magical Fanfiction. This story filled square O1 - "Heroes are never introduced." - Mikhail Lermontov, A Hero of Our Time. My roll for MMF was Almost Kiss and I got to select my pairing. Additionally, I used this story for my Small Straight score in Wizarding Crossover Connection's #CastTheDice20 event for the trope Almost Kiss.
> 
> Beta work was done by Grammarly and GaeilgeRua. SquarePeg72 helped me come up with the title and summary.
> 
> This tale is dedicated to JenniseiBlack and GaeilgeRua for their assistance in selecting a pairing!
> 
> Be sure to let me know what you think!
> 
> Love always,  
> ~starr

Hermione Granger stood in front of the mirror in her bedroom, analyzing her appearance. With a glance at the clock on the wall, she let out a heavy sigh as she looked herself up and down once more, making a note of all the flaws she saw with this outfit.

Her hair was out of control. It looked like a bird's nest sitting on top of her head. Her normal level of frizz had increased ten-fold, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Her make-up looked like it was done by a five-year-old who just discovered their mum's cosmetics for the first time and just wanted to play.

This dress made her look frumpy, but it seemed to fit better than the first one she tried on, and it matched the shoes that she wanted to wear.

She looked down at the silver heels lying in a pile on the floor and contemplated climbing back into her closet to find a dress that would match. However, with another glance at the clock on the wall, she knew that she was running out of time.

"Maybe I should just call and cancel," she mumbled to herself, reaching for her mobile. As her fingers wrapped around the device, she thought about the way he smiled at her when she agreed to the date.

Did she want to disappoint him by canceling on him at the last minute? No, absolutely not. But getting ready for a first date was the most torturous thing she had ever done.

Since her graduate-level courses had begun, Hermione barely saw the light of day. Often it would be in the few short moments it took her to run out for a bite of lunch if she remembered to take a break on her thesis and grab food. She would leave her flat at the wee hours of the morning, making her way to the library and remain hidden away in the stacks typing furiously on her thesis until nightfall. From there, she returned to her flat to mentally prepare to start the whole process over again the next morning.

Tonight would be the first time in months she had done something because she wanted to do, without the obligations of her thesis hanging over her head. Hermione was well aware that it was in her best interest to stay home and work on her paper, but there was something about Bucky.

_Bucky Barnes_. A smile pulled at her lips as she thought about his name. She didn't know much about him, but she was certainly excited to find out more. Their brief meeting at the coffee shop a few weeks ago was only the beginning of the adventure that led them to tonight.

It was like Hermione was living in one of those cheesy romance movies that she loved watching so much. _Boy meets the girl in some cute way_. She met Bucky when they reached for the same coffee, both distracted by something on their mobiles.

_Boy and girl start "accidentally" bumping into each other_. Hermione stopped at the same coffee shop on her way to the library every single morning, and every single morning she would see Bucky sitting at the same corner table in the shop waiting for her to come. Once he saw her, Bucky would leave the table and get in line right behind her so they could talk every day.

_Boy and girl exchange contact information_. It took her a few days, but Hermione managed to muster up the courage to leave Bucky her number before locking herself in the library. She had asked the barista to write the number on his coffee with a note.

Thinking that she would be calm, cool, and collected when he contacted her, Hermione found herself as giddy as a school girl when he first called her. They talked until the wee hours of the morning that night. Her face hurt from the smile she had been wearing all night.

_Boy asks the girl out on a date_. Hopefully, tonight ended the way that all those movies always ended with a sweet kiss under the stars on her front step.

Hermione took a deep breath and brushed her hands over the front of her dress. She determined that she was ready for tonight and gathered her pocketbook and mobile. Bucky would be knocking at her front door any minute now, so she made her way from the bedroom into the sitting room.

As she pulled a shawl out of the closet, there was a faint knocking at the door. She smiled and wrapped the shawl around her shoulders. "I'll be right there," she called, gathering her pocketbook and mobile before making her way to the door. Reaching out to grab the knob, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned the knob and opened the door. "Hey there."

"Hey, gorgeous," he said, flashing a smile at her as he pulled a bouquet out from behind his back. "These are for you."

Hermione's cheeks flushed with color as she took the bouquet from him. "Daisies are my favorite," she said, taking a whiff of the bouquet. "How did you know?"

"Lucky guess," Bucky replied with a shrug. He leaned up against the doorframe, taking in the view. He smiled, shaking his head. _Damn_ , he thought.

Hermione looked back at him over her shoulder and noticed the smirk on his face. "You can come if you'd like. I just want to get these in some water before we go."

"Take your time, doll," he said, taking a few steps inside and closed the door behind him. "We've got all the time in the world."

"Is that right?" she chuckled, searching the kitchen cabinets for a vase for the flowers. As she opened the last cabinet, she noticed a vase on the top shelf. "Of course, I'd put it on the top shelf," she mumbled, shaking her head as she reached for the step stool.

"Let me help you with that," Bucky said, joining her in the kitchen and grabbing the vase off the shelf. As Hermione reached for the vase, their hands touched briefly, sending a flush of color back to Hermione's cheeks.

"My hero," she cooed, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she looked up at him. "Thank you."

"I'm nobody's hero," he replied, shaking his head. "I'm just doing what's right."

Hermione smiled and turned her attention back to the flowers. She filled the vase with some water and unwrapped the bouquet, placing the flowers inside. Letting it sit on the counter for a few moments, Hermione looked at it, cocking her head from side to side.

"Not there," she mumbled, picking the vase up and carrying it to the dining room table. She placed it in the center and leaned back to look at it. "Perfect," she hummed, turning around to meet Bucky's eyes. "Okay, I'm ready to go."

"Whenever you're ready, doll," Bucky said, flashing a smile at her. He walked over to her and offered his hand. "Shall we?"

Hermione looked at the hand offered to her briefly before taking it with her left and grabbing her pocketbook with her right. The warmth of his hand comforted the butterflies she felt in her stomach.

Bucky led them to the door, where he paused, dropping Hermione's hand momentarily as he reached forward to pull the door open for her. "After you," he said, presenting the open door to her.

"Thank you, Bucky," she said, smiling softly as she walked through the open door. Hermione stopped on the other side as she waited for him to pull the door shut behind him. She found it adorable that he cared enough about her safety to double-check that the door was locked behind him before reaching for her hand.

" _I'm really glad I'm giving him a chance_ ," she thought to herself as she took his hand once more. He looked like a prince compared to the men she had dated before now. In fact, they were starting to look more and more like frogs as this date with Bucky got underway.

. . . . . . . .

Hermione stared intently at the man sitting across from her. She was certain that she had the stupidest grin on her face, and she didn't even care. This evening was turning out to be better than she could even imagine. She found her thoughts drifting to future dates with Mr. James 'Bucky' Barnes and even found herself flirting with the idea of being Mrs. Barnes.

She chastised herself for daydreaming when she was supposed to be paying attention to the story Bucky was telling her. He kept talking about a group of people called the Avengers, and Hermione was struggling to place where she had heard that name before.

"So wait," Hermione interrupted, pondering back over what Bucky had been saying. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table as she lowered her voice. "So, you're like a superhero?"

Bucky stared at her for a few moments, batting his eyelashes as he thought about her question. If he was honest with himself, it caught him completely by surprise. He thought everyone knew who the Avengers were and that he was the Winter Soldier. "How do you not know?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. He chuckled to himself as he continued. "My face is literally on the news on a weekly basis, along with the rest of the Avengers."

"You listen here now," Hermione grumbled, narrowing her eyes at him with a smile on her face. "I'm in grad school working on my thesis. I haven't had time for any current media outlets, and I won't have time to follow any popular media outlets until this thesis is done. You should consider it an honor that I was able to carve non-existent free time out of my busy schedule to come out on this date with you."

Bucky smiled and reached across the table, wrapping his hand around Hermione's and lifting it to his lips. He placed a gentle kiss on her fingers before lowering her hand without letting go of it. "I am extremely honored that you agreed to come out with me tonight. Actually, I was very surprised when you said yes," he said.

"Why were you surprised?" she asked, glancing down at his fingers, holding her hand. She felt a smile pulling at the corners of her lips. The butterflies in her stomach were finally starting to settle.

"Because you're in grad school, and you've got a very busy schedule," Bucky chuckled. "I thought I was going to need to get a bit more creative to spend more time with you."

"More creative?" Hermione said, perking up a bit. "Maybe I should have played harder to get just to see how much more creative you can get." She winked at him as she interlocked her fingers with his, gently brushing her thumb against his.

As he opened his mouth to respond, the waiter appeared at the table with their dinner. Bucky smiled, thanking him for the food before digging in. He knew there was more to Hermione Granger than she was letting on, and the night was still young.

. . . . . . . .

"So tell me," Bucky began, taking a sip of his coffee, "what is a gorgeous, intelligent woman like yourself doing stateside? Aren't some of the best ivy league schools located across the pond?"

Hermione smirked, slowly nodding her head. "There are some great schools in London, but I wanted a chance to get away from some not so great things."

"That's understandable," Bucky replied, smiling as he placed his empty coffee cup down on the table and looking into Hermione's eyes. He could see that there was more to the story in her eyes, but she wasn't ready to talk about it. Tonight was their first date, after all. They had plenty of time to learn all about each other if she agreed to another date with him.

"Dinner was delicious," Hermione said, tracing her finger along the rim of her coffee cup as she looked up and down from his eyes to the empty cup sitting in front of her.

"The company was even better," he said, reaching across the table and placing his hand on hers. "Would you like to go for a walk?"

"I would love to," she said cheerfully. Hermione gathered her pocketbook and pushed herself away from the table. Before she could stand, Bucky was standing in front of her and offering her his hand, which she took happily, allowing him to help her up from the chair.

He grabbed her sweater off the back of her chair and draped it over her shoulders. Bucky offered his hand to Hermione once more and smiled as she interlaced her fingers in his. They made their way to the door and into the night.

. . . . . . . .

As the night continued to fade, Bucky and Hermione made their way from the restaurant to the park across from Hermione's building. They walked around the pond in the middle of the park, laughing and talking. They shared secrets and exchanged horrific dating stories that they could laugh about now.

Hermione kept a constant watch on Bucky out of the corner of her eye. Tonight had gone better than she could have ever imagined. Every question in her mind about this night being the right decision for her was gone from her mind. All she wanted to do was spend more time getting to know him and letting him get to know her.

Bucky noticed a clock up ahead and started chuckling to himself.

"What are you laughing at?" Hermione asked, furrowing her brow and looking around. They were alone in the park.

"It's almost midnight," Bucky said, pointing at the clock up ahead. "I should be getting you home so you can get a full night's sleep before trapping yourself in the library all day."

Hermione's eyes went wide. "Midnight? Where did the time go?"

"Time flies when you're having fun, doll," Bucky said with a wink, pulling Hermione's hand behind his back as he pulled her closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and looked deep into her eyes. All he wanted to do at that moment was kiss her.

Hermione looked up at him and studied his face. She could feel a smile pulling at the corner of her lips, and her heart started to race in anticipation of a kiss. From the look on his face, it looked like he wanted to kiss her too.

Slowly, Bucky started to lower his lips to meet hers. Hermione's eyes fluttered shut as she pressed up on her tiptoes, bringing her face closer to his.

Just as their lips brushed against each other, Hermione felt something crawling on her leg. She screamed and broke away from Bucky's arms, brushing a hand along her leg. "What the hell?"

"I'm sorry if that was too forward," Bucky said, running his hand through his hair as he watched Hermione continue brushing at her leg. "I thought you wanted me to-"

"No," Hermione pleaded, grabbing Bucky's hand and squeezing tightly. "I wanted you to kiss me, trust me. There was something crawling on my leg."

"Oh," Bucky replied, letting out a sigh of relief as a smile pulled at his lips. "Did you get whatever it was?"

"I'm not sure," Hermione frowned, hanging her head. "But it's getting late. Maybe you could walk me home, and we could try that kiss again?"

"It would be my pleasure, doll," Bucky answered, winking at her as he pulled her close to him and wrapped an arm around her waist.


End file.
